No Means No
by SickAndWrong
Summary: Shego is shocked when Kim Possible makes a surprise appearance in her bedroom... What could the cheerleader possibly want from the thief at one o' clock in the morning?
1. Chapter 1

_My eternal thanks and gratitude go out to __**A Markov**__ and __**Ffordesoon**__ for their help with this story. Beta readers are what make the fanfic community what it is – a place to learn, grow, and improve as an author. Thank you._

_The characters in this story are the property of Disney. I make no monetary gain from their use (so don't sue me)._

**No Means No  
**(a Kim Possible fanfiction)

**Ch. 1**

Shego was awake instantly. She had no idea what had awoken her, but she knew something was amiss.

_There!_ she thought, hearing the light scuff of a foot across the floor of her bedroom.

Listening intently, she could just hear the intruder's quiet breath. Shego lay still, her muscles tensing as the breath drew closer.

When her unwanted visitor reached her bedside, Shego leapt up, hands blazing brightly to life. Roaring her outrage that someone would dare invade her personal space, Shego brought her right foot around in a vicious kick. Nonplussed, the shadowy figure seized the oncoming foot and ankle and pulled.

The red-haired girl swung her hips and shoulders around, adding enough energy to the kick to swing Shego completely off the bed and toward the opposite wall.

_Red hair?_ Shego thought, incredulous, as she flew through the air. _Kimmie?!_

Relying purely on instinct, Shego twisted in the air, her bare feet finding the flat surface of the wall behind her. She let her legs bend, absorbing the shock of the impact. Her left hand swept back, flipping the light switch. She would be expecting the sudden brightness, but her opponent would not.

Intent on making the most of that advantage, Shego immediately kicked off from the wall, launching herself at the teenaged "hero." Shego reached out, hands glowing, her fingers seeking the smirking redhead's throat.

_Smirking?_ Shego thought as Kim's hands closed over her wrists. _Uh-oh._

Once again, Shego was spinning. Once again, she had been outmaneuvered. Neither of these facts did much to improve the dark-haired woman's mood as she flew back toward her bed. Barely taking the time to be thankful for the soft landing, Shego tried to sit up. Struggling, she found herself pinned securely beneath one hundred and twenty pounds of cheerleader.

Incensed, Shego glared up at the young woman now straddling her waist. She tried with all her strength to free her wrists from Kim's grip, to no avail. Finally, her face red from both the effort and her anger, Shego lay still. She locked her green eyes onto Kim's, and if looks could kill, Kim would have dropped dead at that moment. As it was, she merely smiled back at Shego's glare.

"So what now?" Shego demanded angrily.

Kim laughed at her. Flipping her long red hair back with a casual toss of her head, she smiled.

"Oh," Kim said with a grin. "I'm sure we can think of _something_ to do…"

Unsure what to make of that cryptic answer, Shego watched helplessly as Kim pushed her captive arms inexorably to the bed. The redhead's face was suddenly very close to her own.

_No _way _Kimmie's that strong, _Shego's mind protested.

Yet there she was, pinned helplessly on her own bed, the skinny girl on top of her holding her down with apparent ease. Unable to do much more than wriggle against the powerful thighs clamped around her waist, Shego tried again to break free. She writhed like a snake, twisting her body as far as she could. Her legs kicked frantically, but they could gain no purchase and there was nowhere to go anyway.

Still smiling, Kim leaned closer to her prisoner, as if she were about to whisper something to her. Shego shook her head, sputtering, trying to get free of the wisps of red hair suddenly tickling her eyes and nose. She stopped suddenly, her wide eyes snapping open at the sudden sensation of Kim's mouth covering her own.

"What the hell?" Shego demanded, the words coming out as, "Mmt uh hurr?" against Kim's lips.

She tried to turn her head away, still muttering incoherently. Kim's hands, on each side of Shego's face, held her fast. Shego's protests gradually subsided, her anger giving way to confusion. Incredibly, she found herself fervently returning Kim's kiss. The room seemed to spin around her as she lay beneath the redhead, trying desperately to comprehend what was happening.

_What the hell?_ she asked again, this time of herself. _But I'm not a – _Shego managed before the thought was cut off, blasted from her mind.

By the time Shego realized that her arms were free, they had wrapped tightly around Kim, pulling the girl to her. The intoxicating scent of Kim's fiery hair permeated Shego's reeling senses, the redhead's body pressing tightly against her own.

Kim's hands were busy, tracing Shego's outline. The touch of her fingertips sent waves of euphoria washing over the taller woman's body. Kim relinquished her hold on Shego's mouth, turning her attention elsewhere.

Shego sighed out a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. Her eyes rolled back as Kim's lips and teeth went to work on the soft skin under her ear. Pulling red hair out of the way of Kim's nape, Shego craned her neck to return the favor. Her green eyes looked hungrily to the soft curve of Kim's neck, but then focused on something strange, out of place.

_Since when did Kimmie have a tattoo on her neck?_ Shego thought, then: _Not a tattoo…_

Realization hit her like a bucket of cold water, and Shego froze. Kim felt her captive stiffen beneath her and pulled back, looking into the pale woman's eyes.

"What's the sitch?" Kim asked, the mischievous look in her eyes a stark contrast to the sweet innocence with which she asked the question.

Shego smiled at her then, pressing a hand to the side of Kim's face. "Nothing," she lied.

"Good," Kim replied, turning to kiss the palm of Shego's hand. The tips of the dark-haired woman's fingers rested lightly on Kim's forehead. Shego sighed heavily, steeling herself.

"Lights out," she said, her teeth gritted.

Green flame shot briefly from Shego's fingertips, and the surprised redhead was suddenly asleep, as if someone had flipped a switch inside the girl. Shego rolled the limp form over onto the bed and sat up slowly. Still light-headed, she took a moment to recompose herself. Then, straightening her nightdress, she turned the unconscious girl's head, examining her neck more closely.

There, tucked away beneath the young woman's red mane, was the mark that had turned Shego's blood to ice:

**DrakkCo, Inc.  
****S/N: NC000037**


	2. Chapter 2

_Special thanks once again to __**A Markov,**__ for your continuing help with this story._

_The characters in this story are the property of Disney. I make no monetary gain from their use (so don't sue me)._

**No Means No  
**(a Kim Possible fanfiction)

**Ch. 2**

Kim opened the door, and came face-to-face with… _herself?_ She froze for what seemed a long moment, staring at the other Kim Possible, dressed in her trademark cargo pants and black shirt. Just to be certain, Kim looked down for a moment at her own pink tank top and blue jeans.

"Hi!" Kim greeted herself cheerfully from outside her own door.

"Um, hi…" Kim answered, uneasy. "What's the sitch?" she asked, perplexed.

"Hi, Kimmie," came a familiar voice from behind her almost-mirror-image.

"Shego," Kim answered curtly when the black-haired woman stepped into view.

Kim's eyes narrowed at the sight of her sworn enemy; her hands curled into fists, ready for the fight that was surely about to begin. Although Shego was dressed in normal – and quite stylish, she noted – clothes, there could only be one reason for this unexpected visit.

"I'm not here for that," Shego said brusquely, waving a hand. "We have a problem."

With that, Shego proceeded to brush past Kim and into the cheerleader's house. Kim watched, dumbfounded, as Shego walked right past her. The black-haired woman hardly spared her a glance as she went, the other Kim in tow. When her twin drew near to her, Kim thought she saw something strange.

_Did I just _wink_ at me?_

Sensing the clone's hesitation, Shego gave her hand a tug. "Come on," she said wearily.

Coming back to herself, Kim realized the most dangerous fugitive in the country (if not the _world_) had just waltzed into her house.

"Hey!" she shouted in protest. "You can't just –"

"Shut it," Shego barked. Then a moment later, "Sorry, I thought it was the other you… Aw, hell. Just come in here, will you?"

Kim shut the door behind her and followed Shego's voice into the kitchen. The green-skinned woman was already sitting at the breakfast table, ticking her nails impatiently on the wood. Kim's copy looked coyly up at her from her own seat next to Shego.

Looking back at the restless thief, Kim was suddenly reminded of the other occasions the woman had been in her house, sitting at that very table. Shego's presence in Kim's kitchen had always been the harbinger – not necessarily of _doom_, but it had always been… _interesting_. Her curiosity outweighing her trepidation, Kim finally pulled up a chair opposite the strange pair and sat down.

"Well?" she demanded, as politely as possible.

Shego took a deep breath then began. "Well, Dr. D has this _great idea_… Stop that," she interrupted herself, looking sidelong at the clone. "He thinks the best way to beat you is…"

Her voice trailed off as Kim's twin – much to the cheerleader's surprise – nuzzled up against Shego, whispering something into her ear.

"What's the –" Kim began.

"Shh," Shego shushed, the clone and the cheerleader both falling silent. "Not you," Shego said to Kim. "I meant – STOP!" she snapped at the clone again.

Unabashed, Kim's twin continued her advances. Kim, thus forced to watch herself trying to make out with her arch nemesis in her parents' kitchen, blushed deeply. Shego pushed the giggling girl away again and tried to continue.

"Dr. D wants to beat you by destroying – hee-hee-hee – by destroying your – dammit, STOP THAT!" Shego said, now giggling herself. "You know I'm ticklish there!"

Shego pulled the clone's hands out from under the table and rather forcefully placed them on the table in front of her, admonishing the girl, "Behave."

_Where had her hands been?_ Kim wondered suddenly, wide-eyed.

Shego intercepted the clone's attempt to nibble her ear again, planting a pale green hand in the middle of the girl's face. Kim watched, trying to listen to Shego's explanation. She wanted to hear what the raven-haired woman was trying to tell her, but Kim was fascinated by the rather odd copy of herself.

Noticing her staring, the clone fixed Kim in her intense gaze. Kim felt uneasy, looking across the table into her own green eyes. As Kim continued to stare, the clone took Shego's hand in her own, bringing the black-nailed fingers down to her mouth. Her eyes suddenly impish with indecent promise, the clone continued to hold Kim's gaze as she slowly opened her mouth, sucking Shego's black-nailed finger.

"O-_kay_, that's it," Shego announced.

Reaching with her other hand, she thumped the red-haired clone on the forehead. There was a quick flash of green energy, and the clone was out cold. Her head bounced once on the table, producing a solid thud.

Kim jumped a little, looking from Shego to the still form laid out across the table. Shego seemed unconcerned, wiping her reclaimed finger idly on her shirt.

Seeing Kim's concerned look, Shego tried to reassure the girl. "She'll be fine," she said, waving nonchalantly. "Won't even remember it when she wakes up."

Kim wasn't sure what was more unsettling: her copy's bizarre behavior, or the way Shego had apparently become accustomed to it.

"Anyway," Shego went on, all distractions thus removed. "Dr. D is trying to sully your… _reputation_ with a bunch of nympho-clones. _This_ one," she said, pushing the unconscious girl next to her, "apparently fell off the pumpkin truck last night, and found its way into my bedroom where it, uh… _attacked_ me."

Shego, for the first time appearing uncomfortable herself, looked away from Kim as she finished, taking a sudden interest in the collection of magnets stuck to the Possibles' refrigerator.

Kim broke the ensuing silence first. "Okay, but…" she said slowly, confused. "Drakken is your boss… Why are you telling _me_ all this?"

Shego shrugged, still not meeting Kim's gaze. "I may be evil, Kimmie... But I have _standards_."

"Do tell," Kim replied flatly, arms crossed, watching as her doppelganger drooled onto the table.


	3. Chapter 3

_More thanks to __**A Markov**__ for keeping me at least somewhat focused._

_The characters in this story are the property of Disney. I make no monetary gain from their use (so don't sue me)._

**No Means No  
**(a Kim Possible fanfiction)

**Ch. 3**

"Hey, Dr. D?" Shego called out casually.

"Yes, Shego. What is it?" came the annoyed reply. "I'm very busy right now."

That last comment was largely unnecessary. For the past three weeks, Drakken had been busy pretty much constantly. Shego had actually been enjoying that fact, since it meant her blue-skinned boss had been too preoccupied to bother her much.

And so, aside from the occasional request for some technological odd or end, for three weeks Shego had done little more than lay in the sun, work out, do her nails, and work out some more. There were certainly worse ways to make a living.

At least, that was what Shego thought _before_ being assaulted in the middle of the night by an insane clone of her arch rival.

"I thought we agreed last time, no more clones," she said, her tone conversational.

Just a sliver of acid crept into her voice as she said the word "clones." It was enough for the three henchpeople in the room – ostensibly there to assist the evil scientist, though they mostly just stood around looking dumb – to begin sidling toward the door. Doctor Drakken, engrossed as usual in his work, didn't seem to notice.

"Yes, I think I remember discussing that some time or another," Dr. Drakken said idly, his face still pressed into the eyepiece of his microscope. "Is there some point to this?" he asked when Shego didn't speak.

Shego cleared her throat in response. Sighing heavily, Drakken turned to face her. His jaw dropped when he saw his chief assistant and bodyguard standing before him, an unconscious Kim Possible reclining in her arms.

"Um, yes… About that…" he stammered, looking around furtively, as if searching for an exit.

Shego looked pointedly at the only open door to the lab, where the last henchperson was prudently making his exit. As Shego's green eyes settled back on Drakken, they plainly asked the unspoken question: _Do you really think you can make it to that door?_

Drakken already knew the answer to that, and so he wisely stood his ground. Thinking diplomacy the better of his options, he tried to explain himself.

"It's brilliant, Shego, just hear me out –"

"No. You know what, just stop," she cut in, shaking her head. "I've been listening to your idiotic schemes for years."

The icy calm with which Shego spoke was actually more terrifying than the screaming Drakken had expected from her. He seemed to shrink inside his blue skin as Shego continued.

"I have stood by and watched your stupid plans for _world domination_ fail, time after time. I've been there through death ray schemes, giant plants, cybertronic toy robots… I even stole a crippled boy's _wheelchair_ for you! But this?" she paused, looking to the figure in her arms. "This is just…"

"Whack?" Drakken guessed, his voice small.

He touched the tips of his fingers together apprehensively, watching as Shego dropped the limp clone rather unceremoniously into one of the lab's padded chairs. When Shego laughed, he relaxed a little.

_He _really_ doesn't get it,_ she thought.

"Whack?" she repeated aloud, smiling wickedly. "No, no… not at all."

Oblivious as always to the green woman's sarcasm, Drakken sighed in relief. That feeling was short-lived, though, fading as Shego slowly lifted her gaze from the clone's face to his. She studied him in silence for a moment, then walked slowly over to her boss, her hands clenched into fists.

Rather than back away, like she'd expected him to do, Drakken actually straightened himself and returned her gaze as she stepped in front of him. Shego almost felt a sliver of respect for him then.

Almost.

"No, this isn't 'whack,'" Shego elaborated. "This goes _way_ beyond 'whack.' I'd say this goes more in the category of _fucked up_." She practically spat the last two words at him.

"Now Shego," he admonished, raising one finger. "What have I said about using that kind of –"

Shego's left hand shot out without warning. Her knuckles crunched against the side of his startled face, abruptly silencing the doctor's impromptu lecture on profanity. Drakken teetered on his feet for moment before he fell, senseless – first to his knees and then, sprawling, onto his back.

* * *

Shego was sitting, legs crossed, at the table in Kim's kitchen. In her hands was a steaming mug of coffee, from which she sipped gratefully. She'd been awake since the bizarre assault the night before and Kim, noticing her fatigue, had been gracious enough to put on a pot.

"And that's about the time I clocked Dr. D and headed out," Shego finished.

"I don't understand," Kim said again. "Why bring her here?"

Shego sighed, shrugging helplessly as she explained. "Look, I didn't know what else to do with it – _her_ – whatever… I mean, aside from knocking her out every ten minutes. Which I'm sure isn't healthy, and I'll tell you, it sure loses its entertainment value after a while."

Kim frowned. "And you said she attacked you in your room, then you two started making out?"

Shego set down her mug pointedly, leaning forward across the table. Her green eyes flashed.

"Careful how you say that, Princess. I already told you, I'm not into girls. It's the pheromones Dr. D grew these things with. I looked over his notes before I left, and these clones are loaded with 'em. Now that I know what's going on, I can control my urges – don't look at me like that – now that I know they're not a _natural_ response."

"The notes you _burned_," Kim recalled, one eyebrow raised.

Shego shrugged again. "I was mad, OK? Sue me."

Kim didn't press the point. So far, Shego had been fairly civil and, after all, she _had_ done a pretty good thing by bringing the clone here to warn Kim. Not that Kim had any idea what to do next, but…

"I know I keep coming back to this," Kim said, turning her palms up. "But I just don't understand why you brought her here. I mean, if you hate clones so much, why not just spray her with soda and be done?"

Shego laughed. "You think I didn't try that?"

Kim gaped. "And she didn't melt?" Kim rubbed her face thoughtfully. "So… Drakken's made some improvements."

"Yeah, I don't know if I'd call it an _improvement_, really. She just woke up complaining about being sticky from the soda, and I gotta tell you, it was a real pain to get her to take a shower. Well, actually," she corrected herself. "That part was easy. Getting her to go in the shower by herself – _that_ was hard."

Shego looked away again, her arms crossed. As if things weren't weird enough, Kim thought she saw a little pink in the woman's usually pale face.

The ensuing silence was interrupted by a familiar beeping tone. Grateful for the distraction, Kim pulled out her Kimmunicator. Smaller than the original, Kim had gone back to the handheld style. The wrist-Kimmunicator was nice, but it just lacked too much functionality. Like, for instance, the ability to scan Wade a hair follicle from the sleeping clone.

"Hey, Wade," Kim greeted when the boy genius's face appeared on the screen. "What did you find out?"

"Not much," Wade admitted. "What I _can_ tell you is that the sample you sent me is an almost perfect match to your own DNA."

"Almost?" Kim echoed.

"Yeah, almost. It's definitely been modified. How much or in what way, I can't really say." Wade shrugged. "It's going to take some time to get a more in-depth analysis."

"Time you have," Shego interrupted. "I already broke his syntho-cloning machine. It'll take him forever to fix it or build another one without me there to steal parts for it."

"That's just it," Wade replied. "This isn't a syntho-clone, like the ones he made last time. _They_ weren't even true clones, just physical copies using spliced DNA. This one… It's different. More stable, and only one – albeit _modified_ – DNA sequence. We definitely can't just melt these with soda."

"Doy," Shego sneered. "I already found that out, Super Geek."

Wade rolled his eyes, directing his next comment at the villainess. "Then I guess it already occurred to you that if they're not _syntho-clones_, Drakken probably wasn't using the _syntho-clone machine_ to make them?"

Shego opened her mouth to retort, then closed it again. Wondering why that _hadn't_ occurred to her before, she looked out the window. Kim couldn't tell what Shego was muttering under her breath, but the word "nerdlinger" featured prominently.

"Sorry, Wade," Kim said, looking pointedly at Shego. "Somebody has been up all night and _apparently_ needs a nap." Shego turned back, glaring at Kim.

"Wait," Kim said abruptly. Something Wade had said… "How did you get _my_ DNA to compare to the clone's? I didn't – "

"Never mind," Wade cut her off quickly, grinning. Then, "I'll let you know what I find out. Bye!"

And with that, the screen went blank. Shaking her head, Kim wasn't sure whether to be outraged or relieved that her genius friend was… well, such a _genius_.

"OK," she said, turning her attention back to the conversation with the dangerous woman sitting across from her. "In Drakken's notes, you said he called them…" Kim paused.

"'Nympho-clones,'" Shego supplied when Kim couldn't seem to force the words out.

"Yeah, that," Kim agreed. "So, when she… I mean, her _behavior_. You think Drakken made her that way – that it's automatic. Like, she can't help it?"

As if on cue, the "she" Kim was referring to stirred. Kim again experienced the rather eerie sensation of staring into her own face as her clone awoke, looking around brightly.

"Oh, sorry," Kim's replica apologized, yawning. "I fall asleep again?"

"Yep," Shego answered her quickly.

"Did you miss me?" The clone, not missing a beat, looked from Kim to Shego and back expectantly.

"Help it? I don't think she even realizes she's _doing_ it," Shego said in answer to Kim's question.

"Doing what?" the clone asked brightly, laying her head on the taller woman's shoulder. Her eyes flitted over Kim for several seconds.

_I just checked me out…_ Kim thought, looking quickly at her hands. She hoped she wasn't blushing.

There was silence for several moments as Kim sat, brooding. The only sound was the clone's soft humming. Kim thought she recognized the tune, but couldn't quite catch enough of it to be sure.

"So, what's the plan?" Shego asked abruptly. She pressed a finger to the snickering clone's lips to forestall whatever it was the girl was about to say. Shego continued to stare ahead at Kim, waiting for her answer.

"Well," Kim said, thinking. "I guess in order to figure all this out, I have to go to the source…"

Kim looked up, meeting Shego's eyes with her own and trying hard to read the woman's pale face. Making up her mind, Kim sighed.

"Where can I find Doctor Drakken?"

* * *

When he finally awoke – after several hours – it took Dr. Drakken a few minutes to recall what had happened and why, exactly, he was lying on his back in the middle of the laboratory. Wincing with pain, he gingerly patted the swollen right side of his face.

"Okay," he said to no one in particular.

Sitting up with a grunt, he looked around. Just as he had expected, the floor of his lab was littered with debris. His equipment lay in mangled heaps, his meticulous notes reduced to ashes. It was a long while before the room quit spinning enough that he was able to pick himself up off the floor.

"That went well," he decided in all fairness, once he'd made certain all his limbs were still attached.

"But I suppose it's time to initiate Plan B."


	4. Chapter 4

_And once again, my eternal gratitude to **A Markov**, for flogging me repeatedly until I finally managed to turn this into something reminiscent of fiction._

_The characters in this story are the property of Disney. I make no monetary gain from their use (so don't sue me)._

**No Means No  
**(a Kim Possible fanfiction)

**Ch. 4**

"Thanks for the lift, Mr. Geminini." Kim looked over to the man in the pilot's seat next to her and smiled.

"Least I could do, Miss Possible. I'm just glad you didn't have to bring your brothers along again. Last time they nearly crashed my plane, and me along with it!" Mr. Geminini laughed uneasily at the memory, his eyes hidden behind his aviator sunglasses.

"Yeah, sorry again about that," Kim apologized sheepishly, remembering.

"Sorry?" he echoed, laughing. "If you hadn't fixed that hydraulic line, we'd have all died!"

His laughter faded quickly into a scowl. "The hydraulic line _they_ disconnected…"

"Don't worry," Kim reassured him, smiling with her own relief. "The Tweebs are off at Rocket Booster Camp. My parents took them this morning. They'll be gone _all_ _summer_."

Mr. Geminini laughed again. "I wonder what it would be like to have those two in the vicinity of something like a _rocket_!"

Kim, thinking much along the same lines, shuddered. _She_ knew what that was like all too well. They were silent for a few moments, Kim watching the blinking red dot representing their destination move toward the center of the Kimmunicator's screen.

"And what about the other one – that nervous blond fellow?" Mr. Geminini asked.

"Oh, you mean Ron," Kim said, shaking her head slightly. She didn't know _why_ it was so hard for people to remember her boyfriend's name. "I'm not sure, exactly. It _is_ summertime; he's probably off 'marinating' someplace."

"'Marinating?'" he repeated, looking at Kim over the top of his sunglasses.

"Yeah," Kim confirmed. "'Marinating.'" She used air-quotes the second time.

Mr. Geminini just stared at her. Kim sighed, waving a hand. "It's no big, really."

Kim was annoyed that she hadn't been able to reach Ron. She had called him about four times while Mr. Geminini was on the way to her house, but each time the call went to voice mail.

_Then again, _Kim thought again, _it might be better to go solo on this one._

She liked having Ron and Rufus as backup, but her current plan called for surprise and, well… while Ron certainly had his strengths, stealth wasn't among them. Changing the subject, Kim looked at the blinking dot again, then back at Mr. Geminini.

"We're getting close. Are you sure they can't see us?" Kim asked.

Mr. Geminini smiled, turning his attention back to his instruments. "Miss Possible, don't worry. Even if they had an active radar array pointed right at us, all they would see is empty sky. You know, this thing isn't called the _Wraith_ for nothing!"

Somewhat reassured, Kim looked at the blinking dot one last time before standing up. She grabbed her helmet and small parachute rig, quickly donning both.

"Thanks again," Kim said, pulling the last strap tight. "This is where I get off."

"All right," the pilot replied, pressing a button. Kim felt the change in pressure and knew that the bomb bay doors had been opened.

"You know, I don't have anywhere to be today. I'm just burning fuel and logging hours. You want I should circle around a few times, and wait in case your friend calls?"

"Please and thank-you," Kim answered gratefully. If things didn't go well, she might need a quick exit.

"Ha! For you," he agreed, grinning. "Anything!"

Kim stepped toward the back of the plane, securing the fabric wings of her squirrel suit to her wrists. She took one last look at the blinking dot on the Kimmunicator's small screen before leaping out into the open air.

* * *

"Okay, let's see," Doctor Drakken said quietly to himself. "The red wire with the white stripe goes here, and the white wire with the red stripe goes –"

A bright flash cut off his words.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!" Drakken screamed, dragging himself out from under the machine he had been trying to repair.

His black hair stood out from his scalp, dark smoke wafting up from it. If Shego had been there, he knew, she'd have some wisecrack to make. As it was, the handful of henchpeople who remained just stood around, looking anywhere but at him. Too afraid to laugh, and too stupid to do anything useful, they simply waited to be given some menial task or another.

_At least they're loyal,_ he thought to himself. He shifted his gaze from the slack-jawed henchpeople to the smoking gizmo in his hand. A multitude of brightly-colored wires hung from one end of the ruined device.

"How am I supposed to tell these apart?" he demanded of no one in particular. "White wire, red stripe. Red wire, white stripe. They all look the same!"

He dropped the thing on the floor and kicked it as hard as he could.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!" Drakken screamed again, this time at the sudden jolt of pain from his right big toe.

He hopped for a few minutes, clutching his aching foot and issuing a constant stream of unintelligible mutterings. When the pain finally subsided to a throbbing ache, he calmed down and tried walking on the hurt foot. He wasn't sure, but the toe felt broken.

Drakken sighed, suddenly morose. That had been his last somato-parthenogenetic signal modulator. Without it, his new cloning machine was just a very fancy paperweight. He was grateful that Shego, in her anger – over what, he really couldn't fathom – had focused her attention on the obsolete syntho-cloning machine. It meant that she had only given his new, mitotic cloning machine a cursory beating.

But without the master thief there to steal a new signal modulator from the genetic research facility in South Korea, he was stuck. Of course, he _could_ just reverse-engineer the thing and build one himself, but that would take time he didn't have. With Shego gone and his first (and so far, only) successful nympho-clone out who-knows-where, he figured it was only a matter of time before Kim Possible tracked him down.

Drakken limped back and forth, pacing across the floor of the lab. Frowning, he tried to decide what to do next. There was no way he could get into that research facility himself, and there was no way – he looked at the rabble of henchpeople in the room – he could send anyone else to do it for him.

_Who else is there?_ he asked himself, slipping quickly into despair. Another brilliant plan, snuffed out in its mere infancy.

He hated Dementor too much to even ask for the man's help, not that the Professor would have given it anyway. Fiske was still in prison, he knew. And Killigan – well, Killigan would certainly agree to help, but if he acquired the modulators he was likely to simply demand more money for them, threatening to auction them online if Drakken didn't pay. He could always try the Villains' Temp Agency gain, but he knew that with a freelance mercenary there was still no guarantee of delivery.

_Delivery?_ An idea…

"Aha!" he cried, snapping his fingers. "If I can't go _get_ a somato-parthenogenetic signal modulator, I'll simply have one brought to me!"

Giggling in evil excitement, Dr. Drakken rushed off, hobbling on his injured foot. His henchpeople watched him go, pausing in their work cleaning scorch marks off the less-damaged pieces of equipment. Dr. Drakken spared them hardly a glance as he went. He had some very important phone calls to make, and he wanted to make them before a certain red-haired hero came calling.

* * *

The wind slapped Kim in the face the moment she left the plane. She tumbled once before leveling out. Her arms spread wide, she felt the wings of her suit catch the air. Getting her bearings, Kim pointed herself toward her objective.

Drakken's mountain lair loomed ahead, deceptively serene.

Kim pressed her thumb against a button on her Kimmunicator. She turned her wrist, holding the device out at arm's length to preserve her flying position.

"Can you give me a tech scan of the lair's defenses, Wade?" she asked when his face appeared on the screen.

"Already on it," he replied smugly. Kim thought she could hear the sound of rapid typing over the rush of wind in her ears.

"Nothing," he said after a moment. Kim looked back at the Kimmunicator's screen.

"What do you mean, 'nothing'?"

"I mean, there's nothing there," he repeated, shrugging. "There are no defenses."

"No way Drakken would leave his lair unguarded," Kim argued. "There _has_ to be something –"

"If there is," Wade cut her off, "I can't see it." He paused, then shrugged again. "I know, Kim. It doesn't make sense. I'll keep looking. You be careful."

"Thanks, Wade," Kim said sincerely.

She switched off the Kimmunicator and concentrated on the task at hand. Gliding through the air in her winged suit, Kim was rapidly approaching the apparently undefended lair. It was just one more wrinkle in an already bizarre sitch. Kim's eyes scanned ahead, looking for some sign that she'd been noticed.

There was none, at least not that she could see. No henchmen, no synthodrone patrols, not even so much as one active security camera. As she drew near the mountain, Kim found a suitable landing spot, a narrow shelf jutting out from the rocky face, and angled for it.

The squirrel suit slowed her descent from one hundred twenty miles per hour to less than thirty, but it did so by channeling the downward force into forward velocity. It meant she didn't strictly _need_ a parachute to land, but she did need to slow down somehow.

Swooping down to just a few feet above the ledge, Kim jerked a ripcord, releasing a small drag chute. The silk stretched out behind her, and she felt the tug as it caught the wind. Kim hit the ground and tumbled, rolling nimbly into a crouch.

She seized the drag chute, balled it up, and quickly stuffed it back into the container. She didn't want some roving guard to find it and raise the alarm.

_Not that anyone seems to be looking for it,_ she thought, her unease growing.

She had the distinct impression that she was walking right into a trap. That impression was only reinforced as Kim recalled how she had found the lair in the first place.

"_Here," Shego said with a smirk. In her hand was a small slip of paper with some numbers written on it. Coordinates, Kim quickly realized._

Whatever suspicions Kim had before of Shego's motivation to help her, the ease with which she was now proceeding only confirmed that the whole thing was a setup. Kim knew that she could handle whatever Drakken had planned for her on the mountain. What worried her more was how she'd left Shego and the clone at her house.

_That could be the real setup_, Kim thought again. She closed her eyes and let the sudden wave of panic at that thought wash over her and pass.

_After all, what choice did I have, really? There's no way I could have trusted the clone enough to bring her along, and if what Shego said about her strength was true…_

Kim reminded herself once again that leaving the clone with the one person apparently able to control her was the only thing she could have done. It still nagged at her, though. Kim had learned the hard way not to underestimate her old enemy. Drakken was weird – definitely crazy – but he was by no means stupid. It would be totally Drakken's style to try to replace Kim with a clone while she was away.

_But why would he tip his hand so early? _Kim wondered once again. It just didn't make any sense to send Shego to Kim's house, to let Kim see the clone. But if Shego wasn't under orders from Drakken, then…

_Why should I trust you, Shego?_

Kim could only shrug, mirroring the exact gesture Shego herself had given in answer to that question four hours ago. Quite simply, Kim didn't really have much of a choice in the matter. The only thing that made any sense at all was Shego's explanation, and that was just…

"Weird," Kim said to herself.

She was looking at an air vent set into the rock wall. There was a laser grid guarding it, but a second check with the Kimmunicator confirmed the lasers were inactive.

"Definitely a trap, then." There was no way Drakken would just leave his lair unguarded.

Kim pondered her next move for a moment, unsure of what to do. She considered just going back to Middleton, but a vision of hundreds of nymphomanic Kim Possibles running loose decided her. She _had_ to go ahead, she knew that, but one detail remained.

_How do I get in?_

"If it's a trap, then they're expecting me," Kim said, thinking out loud. "So, sneaking in through a vent won't work. That's what they're expecting me to do."

As Kim talked softly to herself, she swung her backpack off her shoulders and began rummaging through it. "And I can't just walk up and knock on the front door. Sure, that'd be totally unexpected, just… also totally _dumb_."

_So_, Kim decided, smiling suddenly as she pulled a small case out of her backpack. _The only option left is to make my _own_ door._

* * *

Shego sat on the floor of Kim's room, her back pressed against the wall. She'd agreed to stay and watch the clone while Kim went looking for Drakken. Kim had practically begged her to and, truth be told, she didn't really have anything better to do at the moment anyway.

Shego yawned again, looking slightly enviously at the clone as she lay sleeping – honest, natural sleep, Shego hadn't had to knock the girl out for once. Shego found it awkward enough just to be in Kim's room, but the clone had no qualms whatsoever with flopping right down on Kim's bed.

"It's not going to take Kimmie long to mop up Dr. D and sort all this out," she said softly.

She felt a little guilty about sending Kim Possible after him, but Dr. D really needed to _learn_ this time. His first failed adventure in cloning apparently hadn't taught him a thing. But Shego knew that Kim would find Drakken, break his toys, and send him to jail again. Shego would let him stew for a while this time before breaking him out, just to make sure he knew she was serious about the damned cloning.

But in the end, everything would go back to normal. After all, she actually _liked_ working for Dr. D – more than she let on, anyway. He was a little batty, but not many bosses in her line of work would be as easy to work for, or let her get away with as much. She'd steal things and beat people up, and he would find new ways to fail at world conquest. Kimmie would find new ways to beat him, and so the cycle would go.

"Then everything will be settled," she finished aloud.

_Except… what to do with _you.

In spite of herself, Shego had actually grown fond of the neurotic little clone. Not enough to want to get stuck with her – the girl's libido was positively infuriating – but at the same time, Shego didn't want any harm to come to her either. It wasn't that Shego necessarily hated _clones_; it was cloning itself that she hated – the very idea of it made her sick.

The thought of growing people, made-to-order humans, it just seemed so _wrong_. Now that the girl was here, though, it was a tough question, what to do with her.

_But,_ Shego decided, yawning again. _That question will still be here after I get some sleep._

A green eye cracked open, watching as Shego slowly drifted off to sleep. Once the woman's breathing had slowed to a steady rhythm, the clone rose quietly from the bed. Making about as much noise as her shadow, the living Kim Possible doll crept out of the room and down the stairs.

When she swung the front door open, she was surprised to see the handsome young man standing there, his finger reaching out for the doorbell.


End file.
